I am a bit miffed about a letter to the letter published in a local paper. Here is my response:
In response to the editorial titled “What Would Jesus Do About Health Care” in our local paper on June 8, 2009, let me start by stating that I agree with Dr. Cotton; Jesus commands us to love one another, to heal the sick, clothe the naked and feed the hungry. I, too, believe that we are our brother’s keepers.
You are waiting for the “however”. Here it is: I see nowhere a commandment or expectation that GOVERNMENT be the caregiver. It is a personal demand, or a directive aimed at the church. Christ did NOT say that Rome should feed the hungry or heal the sick. Jesus said his followers should do it. Hence, I believe that Riverside United Methodist Hospital in Columbus, or Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati, or the Red Cross are all appropriate venues to reach out to the sick. The federal government, even if “cost-efficient and compassionate” (words this author finds strange when describing any federal government program), is not the proper authority to be in charge of health care.
A “single-payer” system – “cost efficient and compassionate” – exists in Canada. I would suggest that one looks at Canada to see how this would work here. Their single-payer system almost killed my sister. She was at a routine visit to her optometrist who noted an abnormality on her retina. He thought it might be a rare form of cancer. The visit was paid for by the Canadian government. He referred her to a specialist (also paid for by the “compassionate” government). However, the specialist was not able to meet with her for 6 months! How would you feel – grateful that the “cost-efficient” system severely limits the number of specialists, or angry that you might have cancer and cannot visit a doctor for 6 months? Canada, though, has a safety valve – the USA! My sister was able to get an appointment with a specialist in Cincinnati THE NEXT WEEK, and he was able to burn the cancer out with a laser (this treatment also not available in Canada). In a single-payer system, my sister would either be blind or dead.
“50 million people Americans thrown overboard to drown with no health insurance at all…” Dr. Cotton, I believe you are a compassionate and loving physician. Can you show us these drowning men, women, and children? Have you, or any hospital you have been affiliated with, ever refused care to a sick person who showed up? If “Kevin” waited 3 days to come and get free care (because the emergency room cannot and will not refuse care, regardless of ability to pay), is that the fault of a callous, greedy, and “market-traded source of profit/loss” or just a poor choice made by this man?
Please show me a socialist government that has ever made mankind better or any government program today that is “cost-efficient and compassionate”. Even the early Christian church (Acts 2 & 3), a model of compassion and sharing, failed to maintain itself. Other churches were asked to donate to those in Jerusalem, as they were having trouble making ends meet..
Humankind is flawed. That is why the founders of our country set up a system of checks and balances. A single payer system has no checks or balance; nothing will stand in the way of a government-run medical plan with no appeals. How did the government do in helping the folks in New Orleans? We all need to eat – should the government own all the food and run the restaurants? We all need a home – should the government own all the housing and give it to those according to their need?
Ask the folks in Great Britain – how do they like their single-payer system? Are people leaving the US to go to Canada for better care? The “50 million” more that have “slickly marketed underinsurance that guarantees only bankruptcy” – are they moving to Massachusetts where health care is guaranteed?
Again, I agree with Dr. Cotton that we are called to help the poor, feed the hungry, heal the sick and seek justice for the oppressed. I disagree with the thought that the government must do it, unchecked. The federal government is already trying to take over the banks, the automobile industry, the energy industry – now health care? Do we really want to live with faceless, nameless government employees – unelected and unaccountable – making all these decisions for us?
What would Jesus do about health care? He would, and did, make it a point to heal at every opportunity. He did not write letters to the editor, demonstrate on the courthouse steps, and spend His priceless time asking for the government to be “cost-efficient and compassionate”. He touched, healed, made the blind to see and the lame to walk. He raised Lazarus from the dead. His challenge to me, and to you, is to do the same. Don’t write President Obama, your congressman, or your Senator asking for government run health care – go help your neighbors as the Samaritan did!
